September 18th Nohmi v Nomura - A gem

This win can be described as the token win. Nohmi was on form and pitched excellently over the entire game with good run support. He missed out on a shutout unfortunately but the one run Carp scored was never going to affect the result. He wasn't over-pitched either which made a nice change. The issue for Tigers though is that after a big scoring game like this they tend to go to sleep in the next game. Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers  3 1 0 3 2 0 0 0 0 9 13 1
Carp    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1  4 1

Starting Lineups

Tigers
1. Nishioka (Second)
2. Saka (Third)
3. Murton (Left)
4. Toritani (Short)
5. Takahiro Arai (First)
6. Fukudome (Right)
7. Itoh (Centre)
8. Shimizu (Catcher)
9. Nohmi (Pitcher)

Carp
1. Maru (Centre)
2. Kikuchi (Second)
3. Ka'aihue (First)
4. Eldred (Left)
5. Soyogi (Short)
6. Kokubo (Third)
7. Matsuyama (Right)
8. Ishihara (Catcher)
9. Nomura (Pitcher)

With Mizutani spouting off his reasons recently for keeping the failing Toritani in the No. 4 slot one has to be sceptical that the coaches know what they are doing. Whilst a more successful batting coach than Kataoka this is no recommendation as Mizutani has been quite abysmal. Even in this run feast Toritani contributed nothing and looked completely out of his depth. Nomura though found things difficult and with one out gave up a single to Saka. Murton struck out looking but then Toritani singled to put runners on first and second - a useful contribution it is true but not that which one expects from a No. 4. Next was Arai whose contribution was truely valuable a triple which just missed being a home run 2-0 Tigers, runner on third. Fukudome took a dead ball to put runners on first and third and then Itoh singled left bringing in the Arai 3-0 Tigers, runners on first and second. Shimizu hit his first pitch straight at third to end the innings. Tigers had a very good lead. Nohmi started shakily and with one out walked Kikuchi. Then Ka'aihue singled right putting runners on first and second. Carp couldn't exploit this chance as Nohmi struck out both Eldred and Soyogi to stop the attack dead. With one out in Tigers second Nishioka singled to centre. Saka hit to second grounding out but moving Nishioka to second base. Then Murton singled into centre field to bring in Nishioka 4-0 Tigers, runner on first. A wild pitch took Murton to second but Toritani only grounded out to end the innings. Nomura was not coping with the game. Carp's second was quiet with the batters falling in order. They would struggle from this point on. Tigers were also quiet in their third and no one reached base. Carp continued in quiet mode but in truth they had no answer to Nohmi's pitching ably directed by Shimizu.

Nomura had amazingly survived until Tigers fourth. This proved to be his ruin. He walked Shimizu to lead off the innings and the Tigers catcher was bunted to second by Nohmi. Nishioka flew out but then Saka hit one deep which bounced over the wall for an entitled two base hit 5-0 Tigers, runner on second. Muton then whacked his first pitch over the fence for a two run home run 7-0 Tigers. This finally was the end of Nomura who was replaced by Kawauchi. He walked Toritani but then got Arai to ground out to third and end the innings. Carp needed to respond but couldn't. Even though Ka'aihue led off their fourth with single and one out later was joined on base by Soyogip; Nohmi maintained control and retired the next two batters to end the innings scoreless. Tigers then set about Kawauchi. Fukudome led off Tigers fifth with a single and then incomprehensibly was pinch run for by Shibata. One can only imagine Wada wanted to get one of his favourites into the game. It added nothing to the team. Itoh walked to set up runners on first and second and then Shimizu singled left 8-0 Tigers, runners on first and second. Wada had to demonstrate his stupidity further having Nohmi bunt the runners to second and third - this is with an eight run lead! Nishioka hit to centre for a sacrifice fly 9-0 Tigers, runner on second. However, Saka popped up to third to end the innings. Carps fifth was quiet and no one could reach base. Nohmi was economical and devastating in his control. Tigers sixth was pitched by Nakata and saw Murton single right. After another Toritani failure (strike out looking) was followed by an Arai walk - runners on first and second. Shibata who had replaced the effective Fukudome flew out to centre and then Itoh flew out to right - no score there but Tigers were finished with scoring. Carp's sixth saw no one get on base and once again they had no answer to Nohmi.

Tigers seventh was quiet and Nakata had an easy ride. Unfortunately for Carp their seventh was also quiet - Nohmi was efficient and more importantly economical. He looked to be heading for a complete game. With one out in Tigers eighth Murton doubled left. Toritani grounded out to third but in such a way that Murton was locked on second. Then Ryota Arai (replacement first) flew out to centre. Carp's eighth saw two outs go down as Nomura desperately turned to his pinch hitters. One of these Iwamoto hit to Uemoto (replacement second) who messed things up allowing the runner on first. Nohmi took it in his stride and got Kikuchi to fly out to centre for the final out of the innings. Shibata singled to lead off Tigers ninth which was pitched by Hisamoto. He made second on the second out as Shimizu struck out but the final batter was Nohmi who struck out as well. Carp's ninth and would Nohmi get a complete game shutout. Two outs down with Hirose (replacement left) next. He got a lucky impact on his second pitch which sailed over the wall for a solo home run 9-1 Carp. They had avoided the shutout. However, they couldn't avoid the defeat as Kokubo swung at his first pitch and flew out to centre for the final out of the game. Tigers victory.

Comprehensive and comfortable is how this victory could be described. Wada's stupidities had not affected the result and for once a Tigers starter was not over-pitched. Nohmi had taken control and maintained it in dominating fashion. Carp had no answer especially as their pitcher couldn't match Nohmi.